Automotive trim level
Open-knowledge reference entry
Trim levels are used by manufacturers to identify a vehicle's level of equipment or special features. The equipment and features fitted to a particular vehicle also depend on any options packages or individual options that the car was ordered with.
Usage
For a given car model, the trim level denotes which equipment and features are included as standard. A car buyer may add to this standard equipment with trim packages or individual options. The trim level with the least equipment/features is referred to as the "base model," and the trim level with the most equipment/features is referred to as "highest specification" or colloquially as "fully loaded." Differences between trim levels typically consist of interior equipment (e.g., leather seats and reversing cameras) and cosmetic changes; however, a trim level can sometimes include mechanical changes such as different engines, suspension, or all-wheel-drive systems.
Some car brands use a different car model for what could be instead considered a trim level; therefore, the distinction between a model and trim level can vary between brands. For example, Volkswagen could choose to market the Golf GTi either as a standalone model, or as a trim level within the Golf model.
Base level trim is sometimes nicknamed 'poverty spec', as it omits more expensive options found on other trim levels.
Manufacturers sometimes offer "delete options," with which several standard items of equipment from a certain trim level may be deleted, typically for free or with a credit. Sometimes, the delete option costs extra: for example, in the 1980s, German luxury car buyers began to pay manufacturers extra not to have the badges indicating the type of engine to be installed.
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This entry incorporates text from “Automotive trim level” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.